‘The economics of singularities’ by Lucien Karpik: debts and criticisms

Abstract

This article examines ‘the economics of singularities’ by Lucien Karpik, which is a sociological theory explaining the functioning of markets for a specific type of goods, labeled as ‘singularities’, defined according to three criteria: the plurality of qualities, quality uncertainty and the primacy of quality. According to Lucien Karpik, singularities complement the typology of goods traditionally used by economists, consisting of homogeneous and differentiated goods. He argues that singularities represent a ‘blind spot’ of what he calls ‘neoclassical economic theory.’ According to him, while neoclassical economic theory is adequate for studying homogeneous and differentiated goods, an autonomous framework is indispensable for studying singularities. In this article, we propose a comprehensive overview of the economics of singularities, and we formulate a critique of Karpik’s positioning in relation to neoclassical economic theory.